Green Queen - Artist From The United States

Born Mary Theresa Fitzgerald July 5, 1961, in Redwood City, California, Green Queen is a 21st Century Artist and Activist. She originates the term "Activational Art" to describe her work.

The artist’s heritage is half Swiss and half Irish. She was the youngest child of five children born to John Martin Fitzgerald, an auditor of the Union Carbide Corporation, and Bertha Louise Fitzgerald, a lifelong artist. She grew up in a strict Catholic family attending St. Lawrence Martyr School in Redondo Beach, California from 1966-1975. As a child she loved art, bodysurfing, and volleyball. She attended South High in Redondo Beach from 1975-1976, then moved to Novato, California 1976-1979 and 1981-1982, graduating from UCSB in 1985.

The artist studied with Wally Hedrick and Scott Chamberlin at Indian Valley College in Novato, California and studied art and dance at Dominican College, San Raphael, California. The drawings in her collection are from her Life Drawing classes at Dominican College, and casual classes with artists in Malibu, California. She completed her studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, studying with Graham Budgett, and graduated UCSB in 1985 with a Bachelor of Art, Liberal Studies; focusing her studies on Art, English, and Political Science.

Influenced by and accepting the idea put forth by her instructor Graham Budgett, “Life is Art”, and “Beauty is Truth” she continued her art by leading a vibrant life. in 1986 she married, took the name Mary Fitzgerald Altmann, moved to a rural community, and became a stay at home mother of three children, helping her then husband Jim Altmann with his general contracting business. During this time, protecting the environment where she lived in Malibou Lakeside, California, in the Santa Monica Mountains, took precedence outside of her family life. She successfully staved off rampant development becoming a force of reason, and taught herself environmental law defending the earth.

Believing God is the best artist, Green Queen became acutely aware of saving natural habitat around her home near Los Angeles, which was being hit by proposals of crippling urban sprawl. The artist staged peaceful, creative environmental protests including dance and visual art, and produced a commercial to Save Ahmanson Ranch which aired on cable television. In 1996, she founded S.E.E. ("Social and Environmental Entreprenuers") Save Ahmanson Ranch and created an Art show entitled “Artists Change the world by Saving Ahmanson Ranch”. She founded the first “EWALA” (Earth Water Air Los Angeles) 1997, a four day trek linking Ahmanson Ranch with the Ballona Wetlands, which contributed to the preservation of Ahmanson Ranch (now called Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve) and approximately 70% of the Ballona Wetlands. As Director of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (1994-1998), the artist drafted a compilation of zoning and grading laws from other districts in California, and submitted them to Los Angeles County Regional Planning, which led to the creation of the North Area Plan, limiting irresponsible development.

Teaching herself environmental law, the artist successfully won a Private Attorney General lawsuit in Mary

Altmann v. The City of Agoura Hills City Council (BS104251) which prevented thousands of square feet of commercial and residential development from moving forward without a plan to conserve endangered species.

Green Queen’s signature works are “Freedom”, a series of 26 paintings created in 1996 using wood, glue, acrylic paint, and projector film. Art influences include Native American cave painting, Marc Chagall, and Vincent Van Gogh among others. Parts of the projector film used to define the space are gradually deteriorating over time in planned entropy, similar to the ego. Her goal is to assist in ushering in a Matriachal Society and being a significant Art Influence of the 21st Century.